Citadel founder Ken Griffin gifted himself a late New Year's gift with this 23,000-square-foot penthouse on Billionaire’s Row in Manhattan, New York

At 23,000 square-foot, this four-storey penthouse apartment at 220 Central Park South in Manhattan's Billionaire's Row is officially one of the country's most expensive residences to date

It looks like Architectural Digest India will have to keep updating one of our all-time popular listicle: Step Inside the 10 most expensive homes in the world. News just broke of 50-year-old Kenneth Cordele Griffin buying himself America’s most expensive apartment in Manhattan, New York. The American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist, who is the founder and chief executive of the global investment firm Citadel, paid a whopping $238 million to snag himself this quadruplex penthouse at 220 Central Park South on Billionaire’s Row, home to some of America’s and New York’s tallest towers. The 23,000 square-foot, four-storey penthouse apartment is situated on the 50th to 53rd floors of the 66-storey skyscraper project by Vornado Realty Trust and designed by American architect Robert A. M. Stern. The two-winged skyscraper, with its rare and direct Central Park South frontage, will host 118 luxurious homes and has already made inroads in New York’s buzzy real estate market with Hollywood celebs and industry moghuls vying for a property in this project.

Inside America’s Most Expensive Apartment

With 16 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, five balconies and a Central Park-facing terrace, this mega-luxurious apartment in Manhattan, New York is created by combining an 11,000-square-foot duplex on the 50th and 51st floors (listed at $150 million), and three relatively smaller apartments on the 52nd and 53rd floors asking between $26.3 million and $43 million.

Billionaire’s Real Estate Shopping Spree

“He’s definitely a global trophy hunter and he bought what would arguably be now the number one building in New York,” says Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty Inc in a statement. Griffin has spent more than $200 million to buy land in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a CNBC report, for a home he plans to build there. “And this week, news broke that he purchased a $122 million property in London, which was the most expensive sale in that city in a decade.” The most expensive private residential home in UK, of course, belongs to the Queen of England! The price tag for the Buckingham Palace goes all the way to $1 billion. Closer home, in India, Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia — which is obviously not for sale — is the world’s second most expensive property valued anywhere between $1-and-$2 billion, as per a Forbes estimate.

Billionaire’s Row, Manhattan

220 Central Park South in Manhattan, New York, will also be one of the tallest skyscraper to rise among the row of residential towers and hotels that have stood at the foot of Central Park for nearly a century. Units above the 40th floor in the main tower will exclusively be dedicated to duplex and quadplex condos, while the those in the shorter Central Park-facing wing, are being dubbed “The Villas”.

Underneath the building will be parking space for up to 64 vehicles, costing $750,000 per space. Access to the parking will be provided from the entrance on the western edge of the property along 58th Street.